Circulation apparatus  for puotectiire perishable goods



A. BABENDREER.

CIRCULATION APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING PERISHABLE GOODS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, T918.

. Patented Dec; 23,1919.

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CIRCULATION APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING- PERISHABLE GOODS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

Application filed May 18, 191s. Serial No. 235,406.

To all whom it may canoe m:

Be it known that I, ALBERT Bannnnnnnn, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Ucean Springs, in the county of Jackson and State of Mississippi, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circulation Apparatus for Protecting Perishable Goods, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ,a circulation apparatus for the protection of perishable goods from deterioration or injury arising from variations in temperature at different levels in refrigerator cars or ships, or in cold storage compartments in which they may be located, and to control the circulation of air in compartments containing perishable goods such as vegetables, fruits and the like which are liable to injury from molding or sweating.

In an application filed by me on day of January, 1918, Serial No. 214,756, I have shown and described an apparatus for utilizing the irregular and abnormal movements of freight carriers as a means for inducing a circulation through perishable goods therein which would minimize their tendency to rot, mold or deteriorate from temperature variations or atmospheric stagnation. The object of my present invention is to simplify and perfect the apparatus forming the subject matter of said application and particularly to so design it that the zone and direction of circulation of the air or fluid may be controlled in the compartment for perishable goods without interference with the mechanism for inducing the circulation. To this end I have so connected the intake and outlet pipes to the mechanism for forcing the circulation and have so disposed their free open ends in the compartment containing the perishable goods that they are adapted to induce a circulation laterally in the desired zone or level or from the bottom to the top of the compartment or vice versa, merely by a change or reversal in position of their free open ends, thus enabling me to produce the circulation best suited for different conditions.

My invention further contemplates improvements in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus for inducing the circulation so that it may be easily applied and disposed where it will create a minithe 31st I mum interference with the storage of freight.

My invention further contemplates the provision of a vent pipe adapted to be coupled to the dischargepipe so that when desirable the stagnant or vicious air may be ejected from the compartment.

My invention further comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts which in their preferred embodiment Fig. l is a detail plan view of a vent attachment connected to the discharge pipe to eject air from the car.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to a refrigerator car of any suitable type and which is itself typical of any carrier for the transportation of perishable goods. Only one end of the car is illustrated, but it will be understood that the apparatus may be applied at as many points in the car as conditions warrant, preferably one apparatus at each end of the car.

Referring to the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the pumping element comprises a circular dished plate 1 having a flat marginal flange 2 to which a rubber or any suitable diaphragm 3 is marginally secured by means of a ring 41 which is riveted or bolted to the flange 2. The diaphragm at its center is received between and stiffened by a pair of circular plates 5, 5, one lying above and the other below the diaphragm and being riveted therethrough by rivets 6 which are so packed as to be fluid tight. To the lower plate 5 is made fast a bracket 7 in which 1 pivot by means of a pin 8 one end of a lever 9 which is fulcrumed by a pivot pin 10 to a supporting U-shaped bracket 11, the ends of which are out-turned and bolted to the ring 4. The lever 9 near its fulcrum has a pipe 21.

bearingpin 12 on which I mount a pendulum 13 carrying a weight 1 1 on its lower end. The pin 12 is round so that the pendulum is free to swing thereabout between collars 15 held fast thereon and the lever and pendulum tend to swing about the fulcrum point 10'when the pendulum responds to lateral movements or vertical jolts of the car and they thus impart a reciprocation to the diaphragm 3. The chamber 16 in the diaphragm pump is connected by means of a pipe or conduit 17 to avalve casing 18 containing any suitable type of inlet check valve '19, beyond which the pipe 17 is connected by a suitable loose or swivel coupling to. the elbow 20 at one end of the discharge The pipe 17 is also connected through pipe 22 with a valve casing 28, similarto 18, and containing a similarly dis posed and designed check valve 24, the pipe 22 being extended beyond the valve casing 23 and there connected by a loose or swivel joint to the elbow 25 at one end of the intake pipe 26. .The pipes 21 and 26 are mounted to swing in vertical planes so as to bring their free open ends to points near the bottom or top of the car or the compartment in which the apparatus is mounted. The pipe 21 is always the discharge pipe and the pipe 26 the intake pipe and it therefore follows 'thatqthe circulation may be reversed from top to bottom or from bottom to top of the compartment, according to the position of the open ends of the pipes 21 and 26. As shown, the pipe 26 is raised and held in this position by a spring clip 30 attached to the car top: and is therefore sucking in air from the top of the car and this is discharged through pipe 21 at the bottom of the car. To reverse this circulation the pipe 21 is swung up toward and caught in its respec tive clip 30 at the top of the car and the pipe 26 swung down toward the bottom of the car, thus bringing the point of discharge of-air at the top of the ear and the point of intake at the bottom of the car.

1 being understood that the fulcrum pin 10 lies parallel with the long axis of the car, as the carrier oscillates, or sways from side to side, or moves abnormally in travel, this mot on is transmitted by the weight 14: through the pendulum 13 to the lever 9, which causes the diaphragm to rise and fall and in so doing to function in the manner well understood to suck in the air past the valve 24 and discharge it past valve 19, thus serving to transfer or propel the air or other fluid acted upon from any particular area or level within the carrier to'any other area or level, the pipes 21 and 26 being of such length that their free open ends may be swung to the desired areas in any practicablemanner. Obviously the length of the pendulum, the dead weight of 15, and the distance between the fulcrum point 10 and.

the diaphragm are all variables which can be empirically fixed for the duty required of each particular apparatus.

In Fig.3 1 illustrate an embodiment of my invention especially suited for attachment overhead to the top wall of the car. In this arrangement the lever 9 is extended beyond its fulcrum point 10 and the pendulum 13 carrying the weight 11 is secured to the overhung end of the lever between the collars 15 which are fast thereon. The outlet pipe 28, corresponding to the pipe 17 in Fig. 2, leads from one side of the dished portion of the plate 1 and i provided beyond the plate with the valve casing 18 and the check valve 19 (not shown), and beyond this is connected to the outlet pipe 21. From a point opposite the pipe 28 I lead the intake pipe 29, corresponding to the pipe 22 of Fig. 2, and this pipe carries a check valve casing 23 and is coupled to the swinging intake pipe 26. The attachment is connected by belts or other means, not shown, to the top of the car and its operation is the same as that already described.

Having adjusted the pipe 21 and 26 by chains 31 from overhead hangers 32 to produce the direction of circulation, the latter is maintained by the vibrations imparted to the diaphragm 3 by the pendulum weight 1 1 and the circulation continues so long as the carrier is in motion and subject to irregular movements.

I provide an elbow vent pipe 33 leading through a wall of the car to the outer atmosphere and having slidably mounted on its inner end a coupling sleeve 34- adapted to be moved into position to couple the vent pipe to the end of the discharge pipe 21, thus permitting vitiated air to be ejected from the compartment when desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by- Letters Patent, is:

1. Tn con'ibination, a. chamber adapted for the storage of perishable goods, an air circulating apparatus, and adjustable elon-,

culating apparatus, adjustable elongated inlet and discharge pipes for said appa 'atus having their free open ends disposed in said chamber and movable relatively to vary the zone and the direction of the induced air currents in said chamber.

3. In combination, a chamber adapted for the storage of perlshable goods, an air circulatlng apparatus mounted in the chamber,

elongated swiveled intake and outlet pipes for said apparatus, and means to support the free open ends of said pipes in the desired relative position in said chamber to control the zone and direction of the circulation of air induced by said apparatus in the chamber.

t. In an apparatus for circulating fluids, :1 compartn'ient, a fluid propelling means mounted therein, intake and outlet pipes pivotally cminected to said propelling means, said pipes having their free open ends independently adjustable to reach points near the top or bottom of the compartments, and means to hold said pipes in their adjusted positions, substantially as described.

a), In an apparatus for circulating fluids, a refrigerator compartment, a circulation air pump therein having an air inlet port and an air discharge pipe adjustable to discharge air at different levels in said compartment, an external vent, and means to couple said adjustable discharge pipe to said vent, as and for the purposes described.

6. In a carrier for perishable goods, an air circulating means therein comprising a pum p, inlet and outlet pipes for the pump, a vent, and disconnectible means to couple the discharge pipe and the vent, as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ALBERT BABENDREER.

Witness Nome WELSH. 

